It might be shocking to know that I joined TopCoder in 2006 but did not care to open the arena until 2011! Anyway, I registered for the first SRM of the year and was keen to do well. I had to compete in Division 2 as I was unrated. (Rating 1200 and above in Division 1) Before the SRM, I practised a bit in the practice rooms where I could solve the Level 1 problems quite easily and the Level 2 ones took a lot of time and effort. My goal for this SRM was to solve the Level 1 and anything more would be a bonus.
The entire problem set was difficult according to the match editorial.
Level 1 : Passed (~26 mins)
It was of a moderate level (by my standards). Row-wise and Column-wise computation of nested loops was all that was required. I made the mistake of counting the single-element case twice since it appears in both row-wise and column-wise computation. Had to handle it as a special case and I was done.
Level 2: Clueless
It was a 2-person game where one had to predict the outcome. I had no clue. After the match when I read the tutorial on "Algorithm Games" , it didn't seem that hard. I am sure I will face such problems in the future. Now, I know what to do (I think).
Level 3: Clueless
Challenges : None. I am not very good at understanding others' code. (Is it just me?)
Bottomline : Overall satisfactory. Good start to journey. Rating 1128. Almost made it to Division 1.
Lessons learnt :
1. Read all TopCoder tutorials. Nothing like it. Can't touch Level 3 problems without mastering tutorials.
2. Don't rush to code. T(Plan + Code) < T(Code + Debug^n)
3. Use macros. Can avoid syntax errors. High-rated coders use them.
Post-match rating : 1128 (+1128)
Match Editorial : http://www.topcoder.com/wiki/display/tc/SRM+493
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